Man held in death of wife on jet ski / Evidence of assault reported by sheriff's homicide unit

Jennifer Easterling, shown in this undated family photo, died after she and her husband, Corbin Easterling, were stranded in the chilly water of San Pablo Bay on their personal water craft Monday, Oct. 11, 2004, in Vallejo, Calif. Corbin Easterling was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of the murder of his wife after police became suspicious of his story of events leading up to the death, and an autopsy revealed evidence of assault. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Family) less

Jennifer Easterling, shown in this undated family photo, died after she and her husband, Corbin Easterling, were stranded in the chilly water of San Pablo Bay on their personal water craft Monday, Oct. 11, ... more

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Jennifer Easterling, shown in this undated family photo, died after she and her husband, Corbin Easterling, were stranded in the chilly water of San Pablo Bay on their personal water craft Monday, Oct. 11, 2004, in Vallejo, Calif. Corbin Easterling was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of the murder of his wife after police became suspicious of his story of events leading up to the death, and an autopsy revealed evidence of assault. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Family) less

Jennifer Easterling, shown in this undated family photo, died after she and her husband, Corbin Easterling, were stranded in the chilly water of San Pablo Bay on their personal water craft Monday, Oct. 11, ... more

Man held in death of wife on jet ski / Evidence of assault reported by sheriff's homicide unit

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A Vallejo man who told a nightmarish story of his wife's dying in the cold waters of San Pablo Bay when the pair became stranded on a jet ski was arrested Thursday night and accused of murdering her.

Corbin Easterling, 35, was taken into custody outside a friend's home in Vallejo and was being held without bail at the Sonoma County jail in Santa Rosa.

Authorities in Sonoma County said they expected him to be arraigned Monday on suspicion of killing his wife of seven months, Jennifer Easterling.

"There was evidence that she had been assaulted," said Sgt. Steve Freitas of the Sonoma County sheriff's homicide investigating unit. "It is a unique case to say the least."

Freitas said the evidence, which he declined to describe, had been gathered during an autopsy of the 35-year-old woman. Authorities had searched the couple's Vallejo trailer Wednesday when nobody was home and Thursday put Corbin Easterling under surveillance.

The woman's father, Richard Jevarian of Sonoma, said he had been alerted at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday that his son-in-law had been arrested.

According to Jevarian, he received a cell phone call from the couple Monday evening saying they were stranded on San Pablo Bay after their WaveRunner jet ski got bogged down in tidal mud.

He spoke with both his daughter and son-in-law at the time, he said.

Corbin Easterling later told The Chronicle that they had been able to free the WaveRunner but that it had caught fire and capsized, at which point they lost their cell phone.

The Coast Guard found him and the body of his wife at about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, two hours after her father phoned to report them missing.

Jevarian said that he did not think the couple were in real danger and blamed his own bad timing in not calling the Coast Guard immediately. The couple, who often would take day trips on the jet ski and eat lunch at Cuttings Wharf in Napa, were on the water for nearly a day.

Corbin Easterling said that after they became stranded, he had packed his wife's life vest with thick mud to keep her warm and held her as the nighttime temperature dropped into 50s. When he woke up the next morning, she was dead, he said. When interviewed by The Chronicle, Corbin Easterling was chain smoking cigarettes and drinking heavily from a liter bottle of whiskey.

Jevarian said the couple had a "partying relationship" that included "a lot of drama."

Corbin Easterling's stepmother, Peggy Easterling, said her stepson was very distraught about losing his wife but was "kind of clouded" about the details.

"I know that accident was a total accident and they did everything to try and save each other," said Peggy Easterling, who lives in Westwood.